St Anthony High School - Tattler Yearbook (St Anthony, ID)

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Page Six THE TATTLER face of the little mother was still safe- guarding him. And so it was that Shorty came to us in the twilight of the year and left us in the morning, but all of us who heard his story that night were made better for it. -K. R. T7 Si ' titors’ pi ensure (Trip e Senior class will ever remember their trip to Steele’s ranch on Sand Creek. From the time we were invited - two weeks before — we had looked forward to the time we were to leave for the coun- try. Day after day we had watched the sky, the almanac and all forcasts. How- ever, all signs seemed to be favorable for good weather and we were all hope- ful. But lo, when April 16th dawned and it was raining our spirits fell. When school called we looked doubt- fully at one another, but Elda said: “Never mind, we’ll go rain or shine.” And go we did. It was about three thirty when we left town. The roads were fine and we made good time. Mae and Lew rode horseback half of the way and Ella and the writer rode the other half of the way. The way seemed long and we were tired but on our arrival we re- ceived such a warm welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Steele that we were able to do full justice to the delicious supper pre- pared for us. That night we girls made the house ring with our songs. Occa- sionally we could hear Miss Smith say, “For land’s sakes, girls, it is half past two; do go to sleep.” Miss Spence was by that time in the land of dreams and we could hear her gentle snores. Just as we would all settle down to go to sleep “All aboard,” Erma would say, and Mae would answer, “toot-toot.” Despite the fact that we were awake so late, we were out at six in the morn- ing and were off for a ride or a walk be- fore breakfast. After breakfast the morning was spent in riding and it was then that the excitement occurred as Miss Smith was thrown from her horse. We were all very much frightened and sympathized with her but she has ceased to limp. We feel that she has now fully recovered. In the afternoon we rode over to Pine Creek, a small stream which flows through a deep pine and hemlock- covered canyon. That night the boys kept each other awake the whole night and Sunday were so sleepy that they could hardly keep their eyes open, though of course they would not admit it. Sunday morning many of the squirrels lost their lives. It was reported that at least two hundred were killed. Mae and Esther claim that they alone killed nearly one hundred and thirty-five, counting those that were so frightened that they died after running into their holes. We bade the Steeles good-bye that afternoon at about three o’clock and had a jolly ride home, arriving about six p. m. We surely had a good time and the hospitality of Mrs. Steele will long be remembered by the class of 1915.— L.J. T5.

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THE TATTLER Page Five ploys from five to twenty men while cutting and shocking the grain and the threshers from twenty to forty men during threshing time. It was at this beautiful and busy time that Shorty, a little French Canadian, came to our farm and asked for a job. Shorty was indeed a shorty, but had he been measured by his soul he would un- doubtedly have been larger than even Bill, the biggest man on the farm. He was a decided mystery from the first, never taking part in the Sunday and aftersupper sports of the other boys. Instead, he either went to his room or amused the children with stories of the Peace River country or Old Quebec. He seldom talked at the table when the other men did their gossiping but occa- sionally he would interpose some sarcas- tic remark when the talk drifted to “Near and Dear relatives.” One day after harvest, as the boys were sitting around the fire waiting for supper one of them suddenly became bold and asked him why he spoke so sarcastically. He did not answer them because supper was just announced. After supper, however, he told us his story— how he had become a wanderer, and why, and we ceased to wonder that he was so silent and strange. His father and his mother’s brother had worked in a bank together. The brother was a “sport” and it was the old story of misapplied use of entrusted funds but it was Shorty’s father who was convicted and sent to prison for “not more than ten years.” His good behavior won him his freedom in five years. “When he came home,” Shorty con- tinued, “Mother’s brother was still liv- ing with us. One night he came home drunk and insulted my mother and then taunted my father with being a jail bird. Father would have killed him but for mother who pleaded so piteous- ly for her only brother’s life. My uncle left that night but father soon died of the disgrace and in the winter when all the earth was white, mother follow- ed him, dying of a broken heart. Then and there I vowed I would find the beast who had caused all this suffering and kill him as my father would have done.” “Boys, I’ve met him twice since, but it was always the face of the little moth- er pleading for his life as it did that night years ago, that saved him, but some day I’ll meet him again and when I do !” He did not finish the sen- tence but we all knew what he would have said and we also knew he meant it. He rose abruptly and went to his room without his customary good-night and for a time the rest of us sat in pro- found silence and then we each said good night and went to bed to dream of our “little mother” or some one equally dear. Shorty stayed with us all winter but when spring came, that morning of the year when all the earth is made clean and pure by the smell of freshly turned sod, and the foothills are a soft, beautiful green, he came for his “time.” Daddy paid him and after bidding us all good- bye he started for town. As he reached a small knoll he stopped, and stood black against the gorgeous red that gradually faded to a delicate pink in the fleecy cloud of the sunset. He turned and waved his hand to us and then con- tinued slowly down the hill and out of sight. The last we heard of him he was in one of the great logging camps in British Columbia and apparently the

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THE TATTLER Page Seven JVbjustmettt (TONSIDER the lilies of the fields, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these — Oh ye of little faith — ” was said hundreds of years ago by one of the world’s great- est teachers. Could such a statement still hold a lesson for us? Could we of the twentieth century still find any applica- tion for this doctrine? The application of this teaching has been made, according to various inter- pretations, by many thoughtful men and women. The lesson which lies in this commandment is still recognized by all educators. They all feel that each form of life, whether it be the lily of the field or the worm of the earth, has some small niche to fill in this vast universe, and no matter how small that niche may be it can be filled to its uttermost extent if the forms of life can adjust them- selves to their existing environment. But often, too often, the forms of life which should fill their respective places are en- tirely obliterated. In fact, each and every form of life must struggle to over- come the antagonistic forms of life or its enemies, and the climatic conditions with which it is daily and hourly brought in contact. Or, in case it cannot over- come its enemies, it must adjust itself to the new conditions and in some instances change its whole organism in order to survive. In other words, every existing form of life exemplifies the product or result brought about by the “survival of the fittest.” It may seem queer, but this adjust- ment or non-adjustment to environment, this “survival of the fittest,” is nowhere better illustrated than in the results of successes and failures, as found in the high school records. These successes and failures, as shown by these records, may not continue to prove true in after life, but to no inconsiderable extent they do determine the power of the pupil to adjust himself to certain rules and reg- ulations, and to the extent that these re- cords are able to do this, just to that same extent they set for the student of edu- cation and human nature a criterion by which to determine the future of each and every pupil whose record is recorded. The successful man or woman today is the one who has learned how to adjust himself or herself most readily and favorably to new conditions and circum- stances. This matter of proper adjust- ment is not the easiest accomplishment in the world. In fact, adjustment is so difficult that it has been said by learned psychologists and educators to constitute the sum and substance of a liberal edu- cation. Professor Bolton, formerly of the University of Iowa, says “Education is adjustment.” Now, if there is so much in this idea of adjustment, and if it is the character- istic which determines whether the per- son has received a broad, practical edu- cation, is it not worthy of our serious thought and consideration? When the multitudes were asked to “consider the lilies of the field” they were in a way asked to notice how these same flowers adjusted themselves to their environ- ment. Since they were perfect in their development, they were examples of successful adjustment. Had they been stunted in growth or completely exter-